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Call
of Duty 2

Score:
8.5 / 10

Way
back when, full-motion video games bit the bullet for its cinematic
trappings and extremely linear progression.Nowadays, graphics are getting closer to photorealistic that
seems to be the Holy Grail of Gaming (hopefully next up is artificial
intelligence) and Call of Duty 2 is a good step forward in that
particular crusade because it’s one good-looking game – not
photorealistic but still good and even better on one of those widescreen
high definition TVs (or so its been reported by those with nice TVs).But even on my regular TV, the graphics are sharp, the smoke
grenades extremely smoky, and the action very smooth.

But
graphics aren’t everything.

Like
the original Call of Duty (on PC), this second iteration features a trio
of campaigns in an attempt at capturing the international conflict that
was World War II: the Russian push against the Nazi’s in Stalingrad,
the British mechanized rush against Rommel’s Afrika Korps, and the
American assault at Pointe du Hoc (proving that scaling cliffs is just
as hard as a beach landing).This
is a nice break from the traditional WWII shooter that almost always
sticks to an American perspective.

Through
each campaign you’re tasked with a series of mission objectives that
progress to a final, intense showdown, like the Russian campaign, which
concludes with a defensive mission that actually had me holding my
breath.The British campaign
beings with a series of counter attacks that pave the way to some really
fun tank missions.But
possibly the most gripping conflict appears in the American missions.

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As
Call of Duty 2 is a very cinematic game, the scripting and pace are very
good – there’s never really a time that you don’t feel like
you’re right in the middle of a massive battle.Planes fly by overhead, shots ring out but during the Russian
campaign there’s a heavy use of silence – only the swirling winter
wind (accompanying some believable
fallingsnow) and your
footsteps can be heard at some points – the sounds of battle seem
distant until you round a corner to find a Panzer tank laying in wait.Then the sound really
kicks in.Pair this deft use
of audio with the great visuals… well, Call of Duty 2 is the first
game in a long time to actually make me duck
as the machine guns start and your comrades start yelling out enemy
positions.And although the
action is directed it doesn’t feel as narrow as the “you must go
this way!” of the recently shipped Call of Duty 2: Big Red One (for
Xbox and PS2) because there is more choice in direction.The levels are designed in such a way as to make it fairly
obvious which way you’re supposed to be moving but there are a few
areas that are wide open expanses – still cluttered with debris and
objects – that allow the player to be in control of the action.

I
really wish Call of Duty 2 featured a physics engine that matched its
visuals.Grenades have no
effect on anything but enemy soldiers.Crates won’t even break!There
is the occasional fuel barrel which can be exploded but it doesn’t
make up for the feeling that everything around you is practically
indestructible (scripted mission objectives aside).

Call
of Duty 2 eschews health packs and med kits in favor of a more organic,
though not much more realistic, approach.If you take a flurry of bullets you’ll die but if you manage to
find cover before that happens you’ll survive – the red tinge to the
screen and heavy breathing gradually recede and you’re as good as new.It’s very close to the way Master Chief’s shields are
recharged in Halo 2.(This
feature is most welcome during the multiplayer games because there’s
no camping by health packs for easy kills.)

Call
of Duty 2 save progress via a barely discernable and evenly spaced
checkpoint system.You’re
never far from the next save point.I
fell into the trap of “just one more checkpoint” that took me almost
three hours to get out of. (After finishing the British campaign and
playing a good chunk of the American one I finally accepted that I had hit
the next checkpoint.)

The
AI for both your foes and friendly forces in pretty good.Foes and friends alike take cover and return fire; enemies may
crouch in a room waiting for you to enter; if a grenade lands near them
they’ll often scatter.But
it still falls to you to lead the action – you always get the short
straw though your squad never lets you in on the selection process.“We drew straws and you got the short one.Get down there and take out that tank with a sticky bomb!We’ll cover you from here.”You have no control over your fellow soldiers because they’re
basically treated like cannon fodder.If they get cut down other soldiers take their place so there’s
no babysitting and no command interface. (Thank-you Infinity Ward!)

The
multiplayer portion of Call of Duty 2 is of the standard variety:
deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag, search and destroy (similar
to Counter-Strike), and headquarters.Headquarters is the only mode that’s out of the ordinary.Your team must capture a control point and establish an HQ, but
there are some restrictions that keep the game fresh, such as the
defending team not being able to respawn once the HQ is built.The game supports Xbox Live and split screen play.The multiplayer’s biggest failing is that some of the maps
don’t feel very populated even with a full server.That said, it’s still fun to jump online – connecting to Ranked
or Quick matches is easy and there is almost no waiting for other players
to join the map.

Call
of Duty 2 is a very solid launch title for the Xbox 360 but there’s
still room for improvement, like some kind of enveloping physics engine.The action is good, the animation smooth, and the smoke grenades
(still) smoky.Good stuff.